Drinking an adequate amount of liquid is beneficial to human health, especially skin health and skin healing, and diminishes the frequency of urinary tract infections. However, drinking liquids is often problematic for a person with diminished control of his arms or hands, such as a quadriplegic. Such a disabled person, who might be confined to a bed or wheelchair, often is unable to move his arms, let alone to grasp and position objects with his hands. An attendant, therefore, must regularly physically assist the disabled person to enable him to consume an adequate amount of liquid. Typically, the attendant must position a tube adjacent the user's mouth and hold the tube while the disabled person draws the liquid through the tube and drinks. Needing the attendant's assistance to drink restricts the disabled person's independence, uses the attendant's time, and incurs costs. Furthermore, disabled persons are often subject to urinary tract infections and decubitus ulcers that may be caused by inadequate hydration.
There is a need for a drinking device that may be mounted to or near a disabled person's bed or wheelchair and that enables the disabled person independently to access and drink from a source of liquid by making small movements of his head or mouth. There is also a need for a device that enables the user to take a drink therefrom despite significant jolts and bumps that may be applied to the device as the user goes about his daily routine on a wheelchair.
A prior art device that is directed to such a need is the SWIGGLE DRINKING SYSTEM ("SWIGGLE") produced by Edstrom Industries, Inc., Waterford, Wis. The SWIGGLE includes a container, tubing connected to the bottom of the container, and a drinking valve. Resembling a rabbit feeder, the SWIGGLE's liquid flows from the container to the valve by gravity, which unfortunately requires that the container be located higher than the user's mouth. Thus, wheelchairs often must be equipped with additional tall structure to support the SWIGGLE container. Also, spills and leaks, if any, that may drip from the SWIGGLE may strike the user, thus, wasting the liquid and causing discomfort and embarrassment to the user.
The SWIGGLE device may also be equipped with flexible tubing. However, the SWIGGLE's flexible tubing lacks adequate support for keeping the valve in a fixed position adjacent the user's mouth. Whenever the SWIGGLE is jolted, for example when a wheelchair bumps into a wall, the flexible tube is jolted and knocked from its desired position with the result that the user is precluded from taking a drink. This is a substantial disadvantage if the device is placed on a wheelchair or similar apparatus, and therefore subject to significant forces and jolts as the wheelchair is moved about and bumps into furniture and walls.
Another device, the SIP-N-PUFF, supplied by Therafin Corporation, 19747 Wolf Road, Mokena, Ill. 60448, also uses a tube that is positioned adjacent a user's mouth. However, the SIP-N-PUFF does not carry liquid and is not a drinking device. Rather, the SIP-N-PUFF enables control of a wheelchair by using, for example, LOC-LINE segments, described hereinbelow, to convey air pressure from the user's mouth to a pneumatic switch. Specifically, the user inhales and exhales into the tube to actuate the pneumatic switch.
Another device, shown in FIG. 4 ("Prior Art") and FIG. 5, that addressed some of these problems comprised a cylindrical container 116 with a lid 118, a rigid tube 120 immovably fixed to the lid 118, and numerous ball and socket type, LOC-LINE segments 122 that are successively coupled together and coupled to the rigid tube 120. The device also included a flexible tube 124 that extends from a liquid 126 within the container 118 through a continuous passage formed by the rigid tube 120 and the segments 122. The device was able to be attached to a principal apparatus, such as a wheelchair, by a mounting clamp 128 that is attached to the rigid tube. The clamp 128 comprised an elongate bar 130 formed into a loop 132 on one end and having several holes 134 for accepting a U-shaped bracket 136. The clamp 128 was able to affix the device to a principal apparatus by screwing nuts 138 onto threaded ends of the U-shaped bracket 136. The holes 134 in the elongate bar 130 enable a bolt 140 to tighten the loop 132 around a knob 142 located on the rigid tube 120. Unfortunately, the clamp 128 permitted the device to easily shift from its desired position when the principal apparatus was vibrated or bumped. Moreover, because container 116 was supported only by hanging with screw threads from lid 118, container 116 was subject to unintended separation therefrom, especially if vibrated or improperly affixed by an attendant. Such separation caused container 116 to fall from the remainder of the device, and to spill liquid 126. Also, attendants must exercise greater care with this device because of the danger of unintended separation of lid 118 and container 116.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drinking device that enables the user to draw upon liquid by suction; that may be mounted to a disabled person's bed, wheelchair, or other apparatus, or even a wall; that may be disposed either higher or lower than the user's mouth; that fixes the tubing configuration and outlet point at a variety of adjustable positions; that has a container that is easier for an attendant to securely install and remove; that directly supports the container rather than indirect support through the lid; and that maintains the tubing at a fixed position despite being vigorously vibrated and bumped.